Invisible Ink
by Athenachild101
Summary: Set twenty years after The Mysterious Benedict Society, the Society come together for a reunion and Kate discovers the journal into which she had written a lemon juice note 'To be read in ten years'. There may be other one shots later. Some Kaynie.


**Twenty Years after The Mysterious Benedict Society**

Constance's room was still a pigsty. Even though Constance had turned 23 yesterday, which was why they were all gathered together to celebrate, she hadn't changed her cleaning habits in the past twenty years. In fact, they may have gotten worse.

Kate sighed and moved a pile of journals, clothes, and candy wrappers onto Constance's (unmade) bed. She had been trying to clean Constance's room somewhat, as a sort of late-birthday present, but even Kate was at her wit's end with the seemingly endless piles of trash. She picked up a journal at random from off the floor, hoping to get a laugh out of one of the poems so that she wouldn't be so frustrated with Constance and her cleaning habits. The journal fell open to a random page and puffed up a small cloud of dust, making Kate cough and blink. As soon as she had stopped choking on the dust, she lifted up the page and read the messy, faded scrawl.

**_The Terrible Fall_**

_The night was black, the owl did call,_

_I stood upon the silo tall,_

_Never suspecting I would fall..._

_Thanks to the boy who bumped me._

Kate slammed the journal shut, releasing another small puff of dust. A laugh bubbled in her throat, but shock overcame everything. Was this really the journal they had all written in, their gift from Mr. Benedict? She opened it back up again, but more slowly now, like it was a priceless artifact.

Slowly she read Mr. Benedict's note to them, Constance's poem, Reynie's account of their adventure. She wasn't sure when the tears began to fall, but after a few minutes they ran off of her cheeks and plopped onto the journal pages. There was a knock on the door, but Kate didn't move. Slowly, the door creaked open to reveal Reynie, who was holding a piece of apple pie in one arm and their three year old daughter, Anna, in the other.

"Kate?" Reynie asked, concerned. "Are you... is everything okay?"

Kate just looked at him and her daughter silently, then motioned him over to where the journal was sitting open. Reynie looked at her, confused, but nevertheless began to read the journal out loud, starting at the top of the page.

_"It was thwart-wort, every last bit of it and Mr. Benedict knew it. He and Number Two had scoured that cave before Mr. Curtain ever showed up. Half a century was more than enough time for the few specimens Hans de Reizger had seen to overcome the duskwort."_

Reynie stopped reading the journal, and he and Kate looked at each other, the only sound being Anna humming quietly to herself. Reynie opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again.

"Kate," he began, "what did you write in that journal? I remember what the rest of us wrote, but I don't quite recall what you wrote."

"Lemon juice," Kate said softly. "Invisible ink".

Kate stood up suddenly and took Anna out of Reynie's arms. "Why don't you go get Sticky and Constance. They'll probably want to see this as well. I'll take Anna and meet you down there with the journal in a bit. I... need a minute."

Reynie nodded understandingly, kissed Kate on the top of her head, and headed out the door, only stopping to take his plate of apple pie with him.

Kate watched him leave, then went into the adjoining bathroom and splashed some cold water on her face. Anna piped up just as Kate was using the towel to dry off her face.

"Mommy, why are you sad?" Anna asked sincerely.

Kate picked Anna back up, and set her down onto the counter so they were closer to eye level. Anna's blue eyes, which were usually mischievous and sparkling were now serious and questioning, and several of her light brown ringlets had escaped her ponytails.

Kate sighed. She knew there would be someday when she would have to explain the Mysterious Benedict Society to her daughter, but that day was not today. "It's nothing, sweetie. Just... something that happened a long time ago."

"Okay." Anna said, content. Kate picked up the journal and held her daughter's hand as they made their way downstairs.

The first thing that Kate heard as she stepped into the sitting room was the bickering. Even after twenty years, Sticky and Constance still fought constantly over ridiculous things. Now, judging from their conversation, she guessed that they were arguing over whether or not Constance should have to clean the dishes since it was the day after her birthday. Reynie was sitting on the couch against the wall, trying to calm Constance and Sticky and get them to be quiet.

Kate plopped down on the couch next to Reynie, and Anna scrambled up to sit on Kate's lap.

"So," Kate began "I found the journal-"

"Yeah, we know." Constance announced. "Reynie already told us. And I remember all of our entries in it-"

"Only because I just told you what they were!" Sticky grumbled. Constance glared at him.

"Anyways, the only one we don't know about is yours, Kate! So let's see it." Constance glared at Kate. Even though she was 23 years old, she still had a round and young face that made police stop and ask if she was even 16 yet whenever drove a car, a fact that Constance bitterly lamented.

"Well, it's written in lemon juice, so we'll need a candle. I admit, even I don't know what it says! I mean, I don't have the best memory." Kate noted.

"Yup, we noticed that twenty years ago, Kate." Constance remarked snidely. "Hurry up and get a candle, will you?"

Kate was about to get up, but Reynie hopped up from the couch, winked at Constance, and said "I'll get it". Kate sank back into the couch, relieved that she wouldn't have to go hunt around in the attic for a candle.

The three of them plus Anna sat in the living room for quite some time, just looking at each other awkwardly. Constance and Sticky started to bicker before too long though, and Kate listened to them, amused. They had both grown up a lot in the past 20 years. Constance, though still annoying to no end, was slowly maturing and her poetry had improved (albeit only slightly). Sticky was now a professor at some prestigious University or other, and had become much more confident in himself. He had been dating a nice, smart lady named Maria, and Reynie and Kate both had high hopes that he would be proposing to her soon.

Snapping out of her memories, she saw that Reynie had returned with a candle. He lit it carefully, and the others all leaned in expectantly. After the candle had burned for several seconds, Reynie slowly ran the candle flame over the whole page, then handed it to Kate without looking at it.

"Here, Kate." He said "It's your entry. You do the honors."

Kate accepted the journal from him, and shifted Anna on her lap so that she would be able to read the journal easily.

**_Our Adventure_**

_Hi, future self! How are you? I am really good! We just got back from rescuing Mr. Benedict, and it was crazy! Reynie and Constance already wrote all about that though, so I won't bore Future-me with the details! It's really good to all be back together, even though Mr. Curtain is apparently still a threat to us. Milligan is recovering! I'm excited for him to be better so we can do stuff again. I wonder what Future-me will think of this letter? I think that Future-me will like it a lot! Bye, Future-Kate! _

_P.S. Have you told Reynie that you like him yet? If not, get a move on, Future-me! Byeee! _

Kate finished reading the entry and closed the journal amid peals of laughter from the others in the room. Reynie put his arm around her affectionately. "So you liked me even back then?", and Kate punched him playfully in the shoulder. Looking around the room, she decided that 13 year old Kate would be very happy with how her life was now.

**A/N: So... that was it, folks! I may add more one-shots to this story (each with a different plot, set at a different time) if you would like, so let me know by hitting that 'Review' button! And if you don't want me to, then let me know that too!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**XOXOXO**

**Athenachild101**


End file.
